Battle of Installation 05: Difference between revisions

|result=Strategic UNSC/Covenant Separatist victory, Tactical Flood Victory

*Beginning of Covenant Civil War

*Elites declare allegiance to the UNSC

*Flood successfully escape Installation 05

|side1=*[[United Nations Space Command]]  

*Large number of Wraiths, Spectres, Banshees, and Ghosts

*Large number of assorted Separatist starships

*[[Prophet of Regret]]  

*[[Prophet of Mercy]]

*[[Tartarus]]

*Large number of Wraiths, Spectres, Banshees, and Ghosts

|casual3=*Large number of Sentinels

*Large number of Enforcers

*Sentinel construction factory

}}

Meanwhile, the ''In Amber Clad'' trailed behind, and after the Assault Carrier moved off, [[Commander]] [[Miranda Keyes]], captain of the ''In Amber Clad'', ordered a [[platoon]] of [[Orbital Drop Shock Trooper]] (special forces commandos) and [[SPARTAN-117]] to establish a landing zone near a series of ruins and temples on Installation 05 to allow [[Sergeant Major]] [[Avery J. Johnson]] to bring in two flights of [[Pelicans]] and further expand the UNSC presence. The frigate made a quick pass-over of a segment of the ringworld, deploying a dozen [[Human Entry Vehicle]]s (HEV). Six survived the atmosphere of the ring, and only four personnel eventually survived the impact - SPARTAN-117 and three "Helljumpers". However, before they could land in the small ruins, they were detected by the Covenant, and SPARTAN-117 led the commandos in eliminating Covenant [[plasma]] turrets and holding their position against waves of Covenant troops until a Pelican could drop off an [[M12 Warthog LRV]] and a pair of [[Marines]].  

[[Image:H2 SPARTAN117 Make Noise.jpg|left|thumb|[[SPARTAN-117]] readies an [[M19 Rocket Launcher]] and a [[M7/Caseless Submachine Gun]].]]

While the immediate objective for SPARTAN-117 and his Marines was to push through the Covenant-held Forerunner ruins and capture the Prophet of Regret, the overall UNSC objective for Installation 05 was to ensure that the Covenant would not activate the ring and extinguish all sentient life in the galaxy. To do this, the UNSC had to infiltrate the [[Library]], retrieve the [[Index]], and safeguard it, thereby preventing the Covenant from using the Index to fire the ring.

===Assassination===

[[Image:H2 Main Temple Vaporized.jpg|thumb|right|A Covenant [[Assault Carrier]] repositions over the Main Temple, destroying it with what has been speculated to be a modified gravity beam in attempt to finish off [[SPARTAN-117]], who narrowly escapes.]]

However, the Covenant were ultimately unsuccessful. The UNSC, after clearing out the last ruins, were able to secure a landing zone for a [[Pelican]] to air-drop Resupply Canisters and a team of Marines, who aided SPARTAN-117 in the final push towards the main temple. The UNSC forces commandeered a gondola they found on a tower. Despite being attacked by Covenant [[Banshee]]s and [[Ranger]]s, they were able to gain access to the temple. After destroying several defense turrets, they entered the Temple as the Prophet of Regret was finishing his sermon.  

==Race for the Index==

===Introduction===

[[Image:H2 Rtas Vadumee Arguing.jpg|thumb|right|[[Rtas 'Vadumee]], flanked by a pair of [[Minor Elite]]s, protests the [[Changing of the Guard]] before the [[Prophet of Truth]].]]

{{Quote|[[Arbiter (Character)|You]] will journey to the surface of the [[Installation 05|ring]], and retrieve this [[Sacred Icon]]. With it, [[Covenant|we]] shall fulfill our promise, and begin the [[Great Journey]].|[[Prophet of Truth]] to the [[Arbiter (Character)|Arbiter]]}}

===Containment Shield===

[[Image:H2 Containment Shield.jpg|thumb|right|[[Tartarus]]'s [[Phantom]] nears the [[Sentinel Wall]] to deploy the [[Arbiter (Character)|Arbiter]], with the [[Containment Shield]] and the [[Library]] visible in the background.]]

{{Quote|Once the [[Containment Shield|shield]] is down, we'll head straight to the Library. I do not wish to keep the [[Prophet|Hierarchs]] waiting.|[[Tartarus]] to the [[Arbiter (Character)|Arbiter]]}}

===Battle of the Quarantine Zone===

[[Image:H2 Rtas Vadumee Rally.jpg|thumb|right|[[Rtas 'Vadumee]] valiantly rallies his [[Special Operations Elite]], informing them that they must advance towards the center of the [[Quarantine Zone]] and destroy the [[Flood]].]]

{{Main|Battle of the Quarantine Zone}}

===Library===

[[Image:H2 Index.jpg|thumb|right|[[Miranda Keyes]] stretches over a bottomless chasm in the [[Control Room]], securing the [[Index]].]]

{{Quote|More [[UNSC Marine Corps|human]]s...they must be after the [[Index|icon]].|[[Rtas 'Vadumee]] to the [[Arbiter (Character)|Arbiter]]}}  

==[[Covenant Civil War]]==

===Introduction===

[[Image:Truth with Index.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Prophet of Truth]] triumphantly announces to the Covenant that the [[Sacred Icon]] has been found and that there is no need to worry.]]

However, the Covenant would not activate the Halos unimpeded. The Flood, who would be starved if the rings were activated, would soon attack the Covenant to prevent the activation, and the UNSC, who understood that all sentient life would be erased, also opposed the Covenant. Later, after the fragmentation of the Covenant into the [[Covenant Loyalists]] and the [[Covenant Separatists]], the Separatists would understand the true intent of Halo and attack the Loyalists to prevent them from activating the ringworld.

===Battle of High Charity===

[[Image:H2 High Charity Orbital Battle.jpg|thumb|right|As the Loyalists and Separatists war for control of ''High Charity'', Brute-controlled and Elite-controlled warships open fire at each other over the planetoid.]]

{{Main|Battle of High Charity}}

Even as the imprisoned Marines were freed, the crew of the ''In Amber Clad'' were in peril. It appeared that the Gravemind double-crossed the UNSC, sending SPARTAN-117 hunting for the Index in the bowels of ''High Charity'' while the Gravemind teleported Flood forms into the UNSC frigate, overpowering the crew and seizing it. The Gravemind then teleported the ''In Amber Clad'' from the atmosphere of Installation 05, sending it into a Slipspace reversion over ''High Charity'', where it plummeted uncontrollably, crashing into the Far Tower<ref>''[[The Official Halo 2 Strategy Guide]]'', page 128</ref>.   

[[Image:H2 Forerunner Ship Takeoff.jpg|thumb|right|[[Cortana]] watches the [[Forerunner Ship]] lift off from ''[[High Charity]]'' for [[Earth]], with both the [[Prophet of Truth]] and [[SPARTAN-117]] aboard.]]

{{Quote|Once the towers are clear, we'll drive [[Covenant Separatists|them]] from the lower districts!|[[Tartarus]]}}

===Uprising===

[[Image:H2 Arbiter and Rtas.jpg|thumb|right|[[Thel 'Vadamee]] and [[Rtas 'Vadumee]] confirm the disloyalty of the Brutes and discuss a plan to break into the [[Control Room]] and secure the [[Sacred Icon]] from [[Tartarus]].]]

The Covenant politico-military fractures were not restricted to ''High Charity'': they extended to military units across the Covenant, including those on the surface of Installation 05. Upon Truth's order that the Brutes were now the ruling caste of the Covenant, Tartarus ordered the execution of the [[Elite Councilor]]s, who had been gathered in the Control Room of Installation 05 for the consecration of the Sacred Icon before the Halos were fired. While most of the Councilors were murdered in cold blood, a small number were taken prisoner by the Brutes. The rest of the Covenant garrison, however, was not so fortunate. A [[CCS-class Battlecruiser|''CCS''-class Battlecruiser]] hovering close to the Control Room was taken by the Brutes from the Elites, and a large number of Minor Elites and Grunts stationed in the cliffs above the Control Room were killed. However, there was still a number of Grunts that managed to resist, although they were terrified by the murders of their Elite superiors and Grunt comrades.

===Control Room===

[[Image:Sargescarab.jpg|thumb|right|[[Avery J. Johnson]] strikes a deal with the [[Arbiter (character)|Arbiter]] in the interests of sentient life across the galaxy.]]

Shortly afterwards, the Scarab arrived before the Control Room, and blasted the front door open and burnt part of the frontal hemisphere of the building in three bolts from its massive main cannon. The Arbiter then unmounted, fights his way through one room with large numbers of Brute Captains and Brutes Honor Guards who had been ordered to prevent the Arbiter from disturbing Tartarus while he activated the Halos, or his "Holy Work". The Brutes appeared to be of increasing desperation, even commonly wielding UNSC-manufactured M90 shotguns, usually held as trophies. Despite reinforcements, the highly-ranked Brutes were unable to hold the room, and the Arbiter continued down an arched corridor before confronting Tartarus in the control room.

==Conclusion==

[[Image:H2 Forerunner Ship Second Battle of Earth.jpg|thumb|right|The [[Forerunner Ship]] approaching a besieged Earth as the [[UNSC Defense Fleet]] continues to fight against Covenant fleets.]]

The Battle of Installation 05 was an extremely costly battle with significant politico-military consequences for the Covenant and remarkable ramifications for all sentient life in the galaxy. Hundreds or thousands of Covenant forces were slain in SPARTAN-117's quest to kill the Prophet of Regret, the race to acquire the Index from the Control Room, and the remarkable ground and orbital battles that took place on Installation 05, ''High Charity'', and the Covenant fleets hovering above the planetoid because of the [[Covenant Civil War]]. The Covenant was fractured, with the Elites rallying the Covenant Separatists against the Prophet-supported Brutes, who controlled the Covenant Loyalists against the Elites and their allies.

==Sources==

<references/>